Vizzini
by HermioneGrangerTwin
Summary: Based on the novel. Vizzini's excerpt from youth that explains his life of crime. The reason? Love lost. Vizzini/OC.


**VIZZINI**

A/N: In case, you haven't read _September_, I'll include the explanation again: This was part of an English assignment. One of our options for our project was to write a missing scene for the novel that you read. Of course, I immediately jumped on that. No one else did it, but you know what? I don't care. The moral of the story? Fanfiction is completely underrated. Oh, the novel: Princess Bride by William Goldman. If this doesn't seem like my writing, it is because I was instructed to imitate the author's style. Happy reading!

In Sicily, there were not very many ways of life. Almost all men were sellers. Or cooks. (Even then, Sicily was always good for a meal.) If you weren't a cook or a seller, you didn't have much.

Masimo Vizzini was a musician. Not a popular musician, either. (Mostly, he worked in the street.) So, often, he and his wife, Cecilia, did not eat as much as those around them. But they didn't care. Masimo did what he loved, loved what he had, and his wife and his music were enough.

When his wife found out they would have a child, they were ecstatic. Oh, they knew Masimo was going to have to get more money to support them, but moreover they cherished the idea of a child.

Then their son was born. They named him Claudio, not aware of how that could curse him. (Claudio means "the lame one," but they didn't know this. It seemed like a nice, sensible name.) When Claudio grew older, he grew forward. He was a hunchback and an ugly one at that. By the age of two, his hump was so pronounced that even those from a distance could see it. But what they couldn't see was Claudio's brilliant mind. He could talk in complete sentences at a year and read when he had lived eighteen months. He absorbed everything he saw and heard like a sponge, and he realized at the age of three that what he wanted more than anything else was to dominate those inferior to him.

When he got to kindergarten, his plan for the conquering of the world was almost complete. Then, he met Antonia Bartoli. Antonia was the wittiest female for miles around, even at five years old. She wasn't necessarily beautiful. In fact, she was extremely plain (he wasn't a treat either), but her brain suited Claudio perfectly. And, at that point, he promptly forgot about his plan.

Antonia found his companionship "refreshing". Her parents weren't the most brilliant. On most days, they spent their time together. Until ninth grade, he was quite content to be her best friend and nothing more.

Dimitri Mondragon arrived during the ninth grade. A foreign exchange student from Romania (Foreign exchange has been around almost as long as grade school), he immediately took an interest in Antonia. (Romanian women were notorious for furrowed brows and mediocre minds.) Though Antonia outwardly showed no interest in him, Claudio Vizzini knew she thought about Dmitri's attempts to attract her. What Claudio didn't know was that more often than not, she thought of her best friend.

One day, Claudio couldn't stand it anymore. That Dimitri had gone too far for too long. As Dmitri approached, on the way to their agriculture course, Claudio asked, "Antonia will you be my girlfriend?" (Girlfriends and boyfriends were a new concept then.)

Antonia stopped in her tracks. Had he really just asked her that? For a moment, she was speechless, instilling doubt in his heart. Finally, came the blessed response. "Of course, Claudio. Nothing could make me happier."

Indeed, happily, they lived for several years. Claudio worked making, repairing and selling watches. He wasn't famous, but he made plenty. Enough for a family. And with this in mind as they met on the outskirts of town, walking down a horse path, he smiled at his beloved Antonia and asked, "Do you love me?"

She grinned. "Of course."

"Will you marry me?"

His nervousness grew with every second she didn't answer.

"Yes," she said calmly. "Yes."

"Yes?" Claudio asked.

"Yes!" she said excitedly.

"Yes?" he asked again.

"Yes." She was getting exasperated.

"Yes?"

"Yes!" she yelled, irritated. "Stop asking before I change my mind!"

And he kissed her passionately, so that all irritation flew away.

Months passed, Claudio and Antonia were happier than ever. They couldn't stay away from each other. From dawn to dusk, she was by his side, never thinking of leaving him for a moment.

The night before the wedding, Claudio dropped her off on her doorstep (doorsteps were a newer idea, they were better described as doorflats at that time) and kissed her goodnight.

"I love you," he said softly, as he pulled away to leave.

"I love you more than life," she said.

Little did she know that hers was soon to end.

The next morning, Claudio stood at the altar of the small village church, awaiting his beloved. As he saw the doors open, he said a silent prayer that she wouldn't take one look at him and turn around and leave. As he looked up again, he saw Antonia's meddling mother, Venezia, hurrying up the aisle.

"Claudio," she said out of breath. "Antonia…" she paused, gathering air. "Antonia…"

"What?" Claudio whispered urgently.

"Antonia's died. She's been killed. Me and Arturo found her this morning. Throat cut open. Blood everywhere."

He froze. "She's…. she's dead?"

He then saw the other signs. Tear tracks on her overly pale face. Bloodshot eyes. If he had only been paying attention.

Why didn't he pay attention last night? Could he have stopped it? If he had continued with his training he had started before he met her? Would Antonia be here instead of her mother? And so, he hardened his heart. From that point on, he worked doubly as hard for world domination. The world would be his, though all that had mattered in his world had been lost.

A/N: Information included again: The second part of this option (the downside, in my opinion) was to write an explanation of how your scene could've changed the outcome of the novel. I figured I'd include it for you in case you cared. If you don't, skip this and get to the reviewing.

Missing scenes are usually omitted for reasons related to flowing with the rest of the story. The including of this scene would have set up a background story for Vizzini. If this scene had been included, Vizzini would have looked less as a villain, and more like Fezzik and Inigo, a character with heart and an unhappy past. This background would have given Vizzini a reason to be so bent on his work in crime other than that he enjoyed it. His profession would have been a product of his past.

Another change this scene would have made was that Vizzini might not be as well trained as if he had given up his dream for years. His training in world domination from the mind wouldn't have had as much success if, as this scene suggests, he had left his plans in near completion. Vizzini's skills would have been reduced had he not been as practiced as he was. His "dizzying intellect" might have been intact, but his ability to almost read the minds of those around him might have been lessened or all together lost.

Another product of this change would be Vizzini's capture of Buttercup. Had he been so versed in the human condition of love as a young man, he wouldn't have been able to show the lack of compassion he gives Buttercup. He would have thought more about blood everywhere. Upon taking Buttercup to the Cliffs of Insanity, he wouldn't have thought so lightly about spilling his blood for the sharks. This actions might give him an image of Antonia losing blood. Vizzini's behaviors and actions would be different had this scene been a part of the novel.


End file.
